great albums: new order – technique
03/10/2009
several months ago i was considering starting a music based blog…since i love all sorts of music. at the time i was putting together a bunch of music together for my wife’s 30th birthday party, which was ’80s themed. i was listening to my library of new order music and thinking about the band and how the have something in common with all the other great bands: no one else sounds like them. i thought to myself…if i ever start a music blog, or just a blog in general…i’m gonna write something about new order, and what i think is their best album, 1989’s technique.
if you were to ask someone in their mid thirties to put together a soundtrack for their teenage years, its likely that at least one song from this little english rock band would make the list. new order, a reincarnated version of joy division sans the late ian curtis (lead vocalist), released some of the greatest records the decade of the 80’s has to offer.and while many fans will offer up brotherhood (1986) or the compilation album, substance (1987) as their best work, i’m of the opinion that the band’s fifth release is the quintessential new order album.
technique, literally oozes with late 1980’s alterni-pop. both new order’s are on display here, with songs of the electronica/dance genre mixed in with the more traditional new order pop sound. new order’s sound is nearly always driven by bassist peter hooks playing…no one sounds like him. he plays the bass like a lead guitar, which makes any new order song immediately recognizable. but what i’ve always found interesting about new order’s work in this period is the way that their dance tracks are layered with traditional instruments. while much of the acid-house music of the era is nearly all synthesizer based, new order always seems to have hook’s rhythmic strumming going on. this is evident on “fine time” which is the opening track on the album. just when you think that new order have decided to go all synth…hook’s bass picking brings a familiar sound to the song, reminding you just who you’re listening to.
vocalist bernard sumner, who to me always sounds like he’s struggling to stay on key, especially on songs where he’s singing with real emotion, probably has his strongest vocal performance on this album of any of new order’s work. its interesting listening to his confidence grow over the lifespan of the band. on early new order records he seems to be channeling the aforementioned ian curtis’ brooding almost unintelligible style. by technique, he sings with an emotion only hinted at on albums like brotherhood. songs like “all the way” absolutely define sumner’s lyrical style. he’s hardly cryptic, in fact, he may be one of the most straight forward lyricist of the era. a michael stipe he’s not. sumner never asks you to try and interpret his lyrics. he merely throws them out there for all to hear, kinda like wearing a billboard. its evident with many songs on this record that sumner was influenced by his recently failed marriage, something he sings very plainly about on “love less.”
finally i have to talk about drummer stephen morris. until watching some live footage recently, i had no idea about one simply amazing fact: on many of the techno songs…that’s him playing…not a drum machine. i suppose you could say that morris is the drum machine. yes, he’s playing electronic drums on some of these songs, but you’d never know it was actually a person hitting the skins until you did a little research. if hook’s bass is the trademark of new order, and sumner is the voice, then morris is the backbone. he is certainly an under recognized percussionist from this era, and his work on technique is possibly his best.
every time i hear a new order song, i’m immediately thankful that the trio who were left wondering whether or not to continue post joy division decided to go on making music together. with the addition of gillian gilbert (vocals/sythesizers), the band went on to make some of the greatest albums of the 1980’s. technique is their defining work.
if you don’t already own this, you can pick it up from amazon.com
for more info on the band check these links:
